Wayne Rooney found himself embroiled in a diving controversy after the England striker’s tumble earned a controversial penalty in his side’s 2-1 friendly victory over Slovenia.
Just days after insisting he would never dive, Rooney was accused by Slovenia players of going to ground too easily following Bostjan Cesar’s tug on his shirt in the first half at Wembley on Saturday.
Cesar clearly pulled Rooney’s shirt briefly, but the contact didn’t seem strong enough to warrant the fall from the Manchester United star, who was also tugging on his opponent’s jersey.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Slovenia also complained that Rooney had fouled Cesar in the same incident, leaving the defender with an ankle injury that will keep him out of a World Cup qualifier against Poland in midweek.
Slovenia’s Aleksander Radosavljevic said: “Everybody knows it wasn’t a penalty — that’s the price you pay for being a small nation.”
“We all saw Rooney tangle and kick our defender, we have to live with that. But the worst news is our defender is now out of Wednesday’s game,” he said.
Robert Koren, Slovenia’s captain said: “We need to see the replay but we have been talking in the dressing room and we think it was not a penalty.”
For England coach Fabio Capello the penalty controversy was far less important than deciding who should choose to partner Rooney in Wednesday’s big World Cup game against Croatia.
After Frank Lampard scored from the spot Jermaine Defoe — who scored twice against the Netherlands in England’s previous friendly — came off the bench to score his seventh goal of the season with an excellent finish.
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